Lynn police make major drug bust

LYNN – A judge ordered two Lynn men charged Friday with trafficking more than $50,000 worth of heroin out of a Shepard Street apartment held on high bails during a hearing in District Court Monday.Judge Albert Conlon ordered Javier Jiminez, 39, of 21 Shepard St. #1 held on $100,000 cash bail and Jowell Rafael Torres-Perez, 23, same address, held on $75,000 cash bail on charges of trafficking over 200 grams of a Class A drug, drug violation near a school and possessing a firearm without an FID card.Assistant District Attorney Anna Zalewski told the judge that a search conducted at the home of Jiminez turned up 750 grams of heroin worth between $50,000 and $70,000. She alleged Jiminez was running “an elaborate drug organization” in Dorchester while maintaining a residence in Lynn.State and Dorchester Police made controlled drug buys with Jiminez on several occasions, Zalewski said, and a fingerprinting scan at the scene revealed that he had “deliberately damaged or altered” his fingerprints to avoid being identified, according to the arrest report.The Lynn Drug Task Force, along with Boston Police and agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, executed a search warrant at Jiminez? residence on Friday at 9 a.m., according to the report.The officers entered the apartment and saw Jiminez attempting to flee out the back door, and quickly arrested him, the report said.Police found “numerous components of ?presses,?” which are devices used to process narcotics for distribution, according to the report.They also found a large quantity of heroin in the kitchen, as well as inside an electric fireplace that had been altered into a hiding place, which officers determined could be opened by turning the fireplace on and using the remote control, the report said. Officers found in excess of 200 grams of heroin in the fireplace, as well as a .22 caliber Baretta handgun.Jiminez? attorney, Randi Potash of Lynn, told the judge that Jiminez denied living at the residence, and said he was just there to fix the dishwasher. He fled because he knew there was a warrant for his arrest stemming from a 2009 failure to appear charge, she said.?He has no prior record and he doesn?t live there,” Potash said. “We have one person in an apartment with a large amount of drugs, and nothing tying him to the city of Lynn.”Police arrested Perez on the same charges, after he arrived home while the search was going on, according to the report.The suspect?s attorney, Halim Moris, argued Perez had no knowledge of drug activity in the apartment, and had only been living there two weeks.?He saw police in front of his house and instead of running away he went inside on good conscience,” Moris said.Both men are due back in court Aug. 1 for a probable cause hearing, according to court records.Taylor Provost can be reached at [email protected].